Before you read into this list too much, there’s something you must know: I only see movies that I have an interest in seeing. I rarely find myself leaving my comfort zone, or randomly picking a movie from a list. I also don’t go see movies just because they are “critically acclaimed.” I don’t buy into that, as I don’t listen to critics. I sometimes see movies that are, but that’s because I do make good choices in what films I see.

I haven’t created a list of my anticipated films of the next year in some time. My friend Teddy posted one, though, and inspired me to do my own. (Reading through this list, you can get a pretty good idea of the type of movies I like, for the most part. You could probably predict what movies I’d see, year after year.)

10. Thor: The Dark World

Since Disney has delayed The Muppets 2 until March 2014, it made room in my top ten for Thor 2. Love the first one, and the sequel should continue that.

9. Monster’s University

Finally we have Pixar’s latest. This is a prequel to Monster’s Inc. It landed after a Dreamworks animated film on my list because of Cars 2. However, it made my list because of Toy Story 2 and 3. Brave was a definite step in the right direction for Pixar, and I’m hoping that they can bring back some of the magic of the Monster’s Inc. as they’re about to branch out again into more uncharted territory.

8. The Wolverine

This looks to be the Wolverine film we’ve been waiting for since Hugh Jackman first played him in 2000’s X-Men. Definitely looking forward to it.

7. The Lone Ranger

My brother and I used to watch the old TV series when we were really little. I can barely remember any of them, but there are pictures of us watching it. I’m a fan of the Pirates movies (more or less), and that gives me some trepidatious hope for this film. I just haven’t been a big fan of westerns.

6. Epic

The trailer for this totally caught me by surprise. Each time that I saw it attached to a film, the whole theater (kids and adults) was suddenly silent, just watching as it unfolded. I hope that, like Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon, Dreamworks has created another film that could just as easily have come from Pixar.

5. After Earth

A potential new science fiction world. Looking forward to entering it, to see if it brings anything new to the genre. I don’t expect it to land like a new Star Wars, Star Trek or even Avatar. But I’ve been surprised before. The successful launch of a new Sci-Fi franchise could be quite a twist!

4. Iron Man 3

Shane Black brings a fresh voice to the Iron Man films. (I’m probably the only person in the world that liked IM2 better than IM. I just thought that Iron Man fighting another large Iron Mech at the end of the first film was terribly anti-climactic and somehow reminded me of Ang Lee’s Hulk.) Looks like the ante has been raised for Iron Man.

3. Star Trek Into Darkness

I only saw the first one because of J.J. Abrams. I’ll be seeing this one because I actually enjoyed that one. As a fan of Star Wars, there was a time when I wouldn’t have been caught dead watching anything Star Trek. Abrams changed all of that. I haven’t watched any other Star Trek movies, and had only seen a few episodes of various Trek shows over the years, but J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek was the first time that I wanted to continue watching.

2. Man of Steel

Love what Christopher Nolan did with Batman, for the Dark Knight trilogy. Now that creative team has worked on a Superman film. The only difference is that Zack Snyder is directing. I’ve only seen one of his films before this one, though. The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. That showed me that he could be the person to capture heroic flight in a film unlike anything we’ve seen before. From the trailer, so far I think he’s nailed it. The shot of Superman flying outside the Earth, Superman makes some very subtle movements that make him feel more like he’s actively flying, rather than just rocketing around.

#. The Muppets 2 (Delayed to March 2014)

As a big fan of the Muppets franchise, and a huge fan of The Muppets, the mere thought of another film from some of the same creative team is very exciting. I thought they brought the Jim Henson magic back to the characters in a big way, and I look forward to seeing that continued on the big screen.

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

If you know me, you know what a big fan of Tolkien I am. I’ve seen An Unexpected Journey three times (so far). I’ve been waiting for these films since the credits rolled on The Return of the King, and so far I haven’t been disappointed. Where the story goes from the end of the first one, it gets far more epic and enthralling. I have a feeling that, for much of the audience, like The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in this trilogy will only be strengthened by the power of the next parts of the story. For better or for worse, this is all part of one single story, and that makes it impossible for me to judge the first part on its’ own, without having seen the rest.

Honorable Mentions:

Oz: The Great and PowerfulFrozenEnder’s GameThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Like many of you, I saw Iron Man 2 this weekend. It was actually the midnight screening on the local (real) IMAX at Celebration Cinema. I had a great time with this movie, and felt it was far more fun than the original. It also had a greater sense of pace and handled a good number of leading characters very fairly and even handed, with much dignity for them all. Even Black Widow was handled with proper respect for the character. Having read some Black Widow comics, I was fully prepared for the character to be a very poor representation of the original, and was pleasantly surprised.

All of the action was turned up a few notches, and there wasn’t a very poor and generic villain that nobody had ever heard of this time around. Instead, we had two villains to worry about. An odd business tycoon that served as the generic villain of this film, but then an actual member of the Iron Man rogues gallery: Whiplash. About time, Favreau. The first film felt too much like Ang Lee’s Hulk by the end, with a villain that nobody really knew about, nor cared about enough to love to hate. Granted, he wasn’t that extreme, but you get the idea.